Packing spout



Jan; 21, 1964 A. B. EPPOLITO PACKING SPOUT Filed April 18. 1961 a i/zo/gl a $232526,

%IIMZM WW United States Patent 3,118,474 PACKING SPOUT Anthony B. Eppolito, Decatur, 111., assignor to A. E.

Smley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 103,932 Claims. (Cl. 141-68) This invention relates to material handling and is more particularly concerned with improvements in devices for filling bags of the type usually employed in the handling of relatively fine dry materials, such as starches, feeds, flours and the like.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved filling device of the type which is employed in filling valve bags with materials which are relatively fine and dry and wherein the construction of the bags, the nature of the material and the manner in which it is fed into the bags make it necessary to provide for the escape of entrapped air at the top of the bag as the level of the material rises in the bag during the filling operation.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide improvements in a spout which is adapted for use in filling valve type bags with fine, dry material in a powdered, granulated or pulverized form, which spout comprises a cylindrical tube section forming a passageway for the material and a funnel-shaped external sleeve encompassing a substantial portion of the tube section with the end of largest diameter joined to the external wall of the material receiving end of the tube section and the end of smallest diameter joined to the external wall of the tube section adjacent the discharge end thereof and having perforations permitting air to escape from the top of the bag into the exhaust chamber formed between the sleeve and the tube section.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an im proved bag filling device in the form of a spout which comprises a cylindrical tube section having a material receiving end and a discharge end with the latter having a discharge opening which extends into the side wall and is of greater area than the cross sectional area of the tube section, an external sleeve of truncated cone shape which has a length less than the corresponding dimension of said tube section, which sleeve encompasses a substantial portion of said tube section and is located thereon so that the end of smallest cross section is secured to the exterior wall of the tube section adjacent the discharge opening of the latter, the other end of the sleeve being closed except for a relatively small discharge passageway, and the sleeve having apertures adjacent the end of smallest cross section for allowing passage of entrapped air from the bag into the exhaust chamber formed between the sleeve and the tube section when the discharge end of the device is positioned in a filling opening in the bag and with the combined area of the apertures being in the neighborhood of forty percent of the cross sectional area of the tube section.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the bag filling device which is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a bag packing or filling spout which incorporates therein the principal features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view showing the receiving end of the spout; and

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation on a reduced scale illustrating the use of the filling spout in a bag filling operation.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a packing or filling spout which, as shown in FIGURE 3, is

3,118,474 Patented Jan. 21, 1964 ice adapted for attachment to the funnel-like discharge conduit 11 at the bottom of a filling hopper 12 where it is in position to be received in the opening 13 in a valve sleeve 14 of a bag 15 which is positioned for filling through the spout 10.

The spout 10 comprises an open ended cylindrical sec tion 16 which forms a tube-like conduit for passing the product or material which is being bagged or packaged and which is in a flowable state or condition. The tube section 16 is, of course, open at the material receiving or entrance end 17 and also at the discharge end 18 with the latter preferably having the major or bottom forming portion of its side wall cut away to provide the curved edge 19 so as to enlarge the area of the opening. The side wall at the top is curved or slanted inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the tube, as indicated at 20, so as to direct the material flowing through the tube downwardly into the bag when the tube is positioned with its long axis horizontal, as shown.

The spout 10 includes an exterior sleeve 21 of truncated cone shape which encompasses the major portion of the inner tube 16 and which is connected thereto at its up posite ends so as to form between the tube and the sleeve an air exhaust chamber 22. The smaller end 23 of the sleeve 21 is secured directly to the exterior surface of the wall of the tube 16 adjacent the discharge end 18 and two rows of apertures 24 are provided adjacent the end 23 so as to allow air which is forced to the top of the bag to pass therethrough and into the exhaust chamber 22 without interference with the flow of material through the tube 16. The larger end 25 of the sleeve 21 is closed by a wall forming plate member 26 which is spaced a short distance inwardly of the end 17 of the tube 16, except for a relatively small air discharge or escape passage formed by an axially extending conduit 27 which may be connected to a dust collecting system (not shown), if desired. A small air tube 28 is also provided for connection with an air line (not shown) to permit cleaning, after use, by blowing out of the chamber 22 any material which may have accumulated during the bag filling operation.

The apertures or openings 24 in the sleeve 21 at the discharge'end of the spout may be formed of any desired shape or size. When they are formed so as to provide a total area for movement therethrough of the exhaust air of approximately 40% of the cross section area of the tube 16 the spout operates most successfully with a minimum loss of the product through removal of air from the bag. 7

In using the spout 10 in a typical bagging operation,,i-t is arranged as shown in FIGURE 3 in a horizontal position on the discharge conduit 11 of the hopper 12. A valve type bag 15 is then positioned with the valve forming sleeve 14 extended so as to telescope over the discharge end of the spout sleeve member 21, the taper on the latter permitting a snug fit within the opening 13 as well as adapting the spout for use with valve openings of varying size. With the valve sleeve 14 positioned on the end of the spout 10 the bag 11 is ready for filling and the material is flowed out of the hopper 12 through the discharge conduit 11 and the spout 10 into the bag. When bagging a material, such as, for example, starch, the product, when introduced into the hopper 12, is subjected to a constant supply of fiuidizing air injected through pads or the like at the bottom of the hopper. During the bag filling cyle the pressure exerted by the weight of the product forces the product through the spout and into the bag until a predetermined quantity of the product is deliveredinto the bag when the flow of the product is automatically out 01?, the bag is removed and the valve sleeve 14 is tucked into the top of the bag to close the same. During the filling the product settles toward the bottom of the bag and forces air upwardly which escapes readily cfrom the top of the bag through the apertures 24, the chamber 22 and the air exhaust conduit 27 into the atmosphere or to a dust collecting system connected to the conduit 27, with a minimum of the product being carried out by the escaping air.

When the bagging operation is completed, the blowout tube 28 may be connected to an air line to clean out the exhaust chamber 22, removing therefrom any of the product which may have accumulated in the same.

The spout may, of course, be used in filling any other type of bag which has a filling opening into which the spout 10 may be inserted so that its inner or discharge end 18 is within the bag in proper position to deposit the product therein and allow escape of entrapped air through the openings 24 in the spout sleeve 21.

While particular materials and specific details of construction have been referred to in describing the illustrated form of the filling device, it will be understood that equivalent materials and other details of construction may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A device for packing a bag with relatively fine and dry flowable material, said device comprising a cylindrical tube section having a material receiving end and a discharge end with a connecting side Wall, an external sleeve of truncated cone shape, the smaller end of said external sleeve having a diameter at its inner edge which is only slightly greater than the external diameter of said tube section, said sleeve having a side wall encompassing a substantial portion of said tube section and said sleeve being located thereon so that its smaller end engages with the external surface of the side wall of said tube section adjacent the discharge opening of the latter, said sleeve having its other endclosed except for a relatively small discharge passageway and said sleeve cooperating with said tube section to form an air discharge chamber with the discharge passageway at the receiving end of said tube section, and said sleeve having one or more openings in the side wall thereof adjacent its smaller end allowing for passage of air from the bag into the air discharge chamber when-the discharge end of the device is positioned in a material receiving opening in the bag, the opening 'area in the side wall at the smaller end of the sleeve being in the neighborhood of 40% of 'the cross sectional 'area'o'f said tube section,

2. A bagfilling device comprising a cylindrical tube section having a material receiving end, a discharge end and a connecting side wall, the discharge end having a discharge opening which extends into the side Wall and is of greater area than the cross sectional area of the tube section, an external sleeve of truncated cone shape which has a length less than the corresponding dimension of said tube section, the smaller end of said external sleeve having a diameter only slightly greater than the diameter of said tube section, said sleeve encompassing a substantial portion of said tube section and having the smaller end thereof secured to the exterior of the side wall of the tube section in closed relation adjacent the discharge and a connecting side wall, the discharge end having a discharge opening which extends into the side wall and is of greater area than the cross sectional area of the tube section, an external sleeve of truncated cone shape, said sleeve encompassing a substantial portion of said tube section and having the end of smaller cross section secured in closed relation to the side wall of said tube section adjacent the discharge opening, said sleeve being closed at its other end except for a relatively small discharge passageway whereby said sleeve cooperates with said tube section to form an exhaust chamber, and said sleevehaving apertures in the wall thereof adjacent the discharge end of said tube section for allowing escape of air from the bag through said apertures and into the exhaust chamber when the discharge end of the device is positioned in a filling opening in the bag, said apertures having a combined area of approximately 40% of the cross sectional area of said tube section.

4. A bag packing spout comprising a cylindrical tube section having an open material receiving end and an open discharge end, an external sleeve of truncated cone shape which has a length less than the corresponding dimension of said tube section, said sleeve encompassing a substantial pontion of said tube section and located thereon with the smaller end secured to the wall of the tube section in closed relation therewith and adjacent the discharge end, said sleeve being coaxial with the cylindrical tube section so as to form therewith an annular chamber of uniformly tapering cross section, said sleeve being closed at its larger end except for a relatively small discharge passageway, and said sleeve having apertures immediately adjacent the smaller end for allowing passage of entrapped air from the bag through said apertures into the annular chamber between the sleeve and the tube section when the discharge end of the spout is positioned in a filling opening in the bag.

5. A bag-filling spout-comprising a tube section having aproduct receiving end and a discharge end with a connecting side wall, the discharge end having an opening 'Which'extends into the side walland is of greater area "than the cross sectiOnaLareaofthe 'tube section, a-funnel-likeexternal sleeve encompassing aportion of said tube section and located thereon with thesmaller end secured to theexterior wall of the tube section adjacent .the edge'of'the discharge opening of the latter, said sleeve being closed by a transverse wall member at its other end, 'whereby an exhaust chamber is formed between the sleeve and the tube section, means forming a relatively small discharge opening in said transverse wall member and said sleeve having a side wall connecting the ends thereof with a plurality of openings'therein immediately adjacent the smaller end for allowing passage of air from the'beg ifzta said exhaust chamber through said openings when the discharge endof the device is positioned in a filling opening in the bag.

References Cited in the file of-this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,782,733 Lilly Nov. 25, 1930 2,251,659 Bushman Aug. 5, 1941 2,861,604 Whitmire Nov. 25, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS.

9934/27 Australia Oct. 1-8, 1927 702,276 Germany Feb. 4, 1941 929,418 Germany ..,June 27, 1955 

1. A DEVICE FOR PACKING A BAG WITH RELATIVELY FINE AND DRY FLOWABLE MATERIAL, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL TUBE SECTION HAVING A MATERIAL RECEIVING END AND A DISCHARGE END WITH A CONNECTING SIDE WALL, AN EXTERNAL SLEEVE OF TRUNCATED CONE SHAPE, THE SMALLER END OF SAID EXTERNAL SLEEVE HAVING A DIAMETER AT ITS INNER EDGE WHICH IS ONLY SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE EXTERNAL DIAMETER OF SAID TUBE SECTION, SAID SLEEVE HAVING A SIDE WALL ENCOMPASSING A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID TUBE SECTION AND SAID SLEEVE BEING LOCATED THEREON SO THAT ITS SMALLER END ENGAGES WITH THE EXTERNAL SURFACE OF THE SIDE WALL OF SAID TUBE SECTION ADJACENT THE DISCHARGE OPENING OF THE LATTER, SAID SLEEVE HAVING ITS OTHER END CLOSED EXCEPT FOR A RELATIVELY SMALL DISCHARGE PASSAGEWAY AND SAID SLEEVE COOPERATING WITH SAID TUBE SECTION TO FORM AN AIR DISCHARGE CHAMBER WITH 